Point State Park Fountain to be Completed by Summer 2013

The final phase of the $35 million project to renovate Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh will include major improvements to the iconic fountain.

Christina Novak, spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said that the current wall of the fountain will remain.

"We will be redoing the actual pump system and switching over the lights, but what will make it a little more spectacular is that there will be a second ring added in the pool of the fountain that will be a disappearing waterfall," Novak said.

In addition, this $9.6 million phase includes a reconstruction of the plaza surrounding the pool, rehabilitation of the adjacent wharf area surfacing, and renovations to the pump house building.

The fountain has not been overhauled since its creation almost 40 years ago, and has been turned off since April 2009. Novak said that the final result, funded by a combination of state tax dollars and business and private donations, will be worth the wait.

"Folks that visit the park have had to show some patience. We really needed to undertake a facelift at the Point, and the final touch will be the complete renovation of the fountain," Novak said.

Novak said that the work will start in the next few weeks, with an anticipated completion date in late spring or early summer of 2013.